The Gambia has become the third African nation withdrawing its membership from the Hague-based International Criminal Court, accusing the body of not pursuing war crime charges against European nations.

Dr. Isatou Touray’s campaign is now getting support from Vanguard Africa, a pro-democracy movement that provides assistance to pro-reform candidates in Africa.

Jeffrey Smith, a Washington-based human rights expert who has worked with LGBT activists from Uganda and other African countries, is the founding director of the Vanguard Africa Movement, which promotes good governance and ethical leadership on the continent. He told the Washington Blade that Trump “once again displayed his affection for all things authoritarian when he vowed to lock up his opponent” at Sunday’s presidential debate at Washington University in St. Louis.

Ethiopia is observing an official mourning period for more than 50 people killed during a crackdown and stampede at an ethnic cultural festival in the Oromia region Sunday.

Human rights campaigners are expressing concerns over Russian involvement in The Gambia ahead of the West African nation’s critical winter polls.

“We should all be highly skeptical regarding the statements made about Feyisa’s supposed safety when he returns home,” says Jeffrey Smith of Vanguard Africa. “Over the years, the Ethiopian government has shown a ruthless inability to accept or otherwise tolerate any semblance of criticism.”

Zambia goes to the polls on Aug. 11 in an increasingly tense climate marked by protests, violence and the government’s targeted attacks on the opposition. The crackdown launched by President Edgar Lungu is a worrying trend toward further democratic backsliding in the long-stable country.

Protesters called for electoral changes and for UDP President Yahya Jammeh to step down.

In the United States last week, cell phone videos made sure that Alton Sterling and Philando Castile’s names were heard. In Zimbabwe, WhatsApp and Twitter have kept a civil society leader wearing his nation’s flag around his neck out of a prison cell (for now).

Mr. Jeffrey Smith, Executive Director of the Vanguard Africa Movement, an organization working to advance good governance and reform across the continent, told PREMIUM TIMES the development was part of an elaborate approach by Mr. Lungu to suffocate dissenting voices before the elections.